Microsoft Has to Bring Exclusives Forward for the Xbox 720

Gi - The next generation is upon us in the world of video games. Whether you consider it starting with the launch of the Wii U or the unveiling of the PlayStation 4, we are heading right into the thick of another console war. Though the Wii U may not feel like something truly new to some, there is little doubt that gamers felt like the PlayStation 4 was what they had been hoping for from the future; and no doubt that Sony’s next gen attempt is looking strong. The one company that we have yet to hear anything from is Microsoft. While the next Xbox, presumably called the Xbox 720, hasn’t tipped its hand as of yet, it looks as though we could be on the verge of an announcement or even a partial unveiling in the next couple of months.

M$ has Halo as their mascote. If they use the power in the new console to make Halo a fresh experience, that will sell more consoles than announcing 20 new wishy washy IP's. New IP are always welcome, but I reject the idea that M$ needs a boat load of exclusives to be succesful against Sony. What would be more important, would be to some how enhance the experience of gaming on the phatform. Whether that is done by: xbox live; controller; frame rate; image projection; ... or what ever. But exclusive IP's are only effective if they are better than what is offered by 3rd party. That does not happen very often. 3rd party are just as good and ofen time better than 1st party.

Yes but exclusive 1st party titles are the ones that mainly separate the one console from the other. If people can get all the 3rd party titles and many quality exclusives from all genres on PS4 why stick with MS? Just for one or two games?! Right now Sony has numerous studios all working on PS4 exclusives and most of them are serious AAA titles... and even at the motion-casual front they haven't even said anything yet for the next-gen PSEye. As far as i am concerned they could really give Kinect2 a run for its money!

It's proven fact the all these Sony exclusives are always outsold by 3rd party multiplat titles. The only weight exclusives hold are with a % of its core. The numbers dont lie. It's the reason M$ buys timed or exclusive DLC content and signs exclusive deals with publishers like EA.

Multiplatform games make an impact but like the comment before me stated, exclusives separate companies from the competitor by creating incentives. Why would I go to a platform that has the same games as all the others but no exclusives?

You even mentioned it yourself, exclusive content / timed-exclusive. The difference between the multiplatform exclusive content versus an exclusive game is that the experience is only on one platform. It's like having choice to watch a movie in 3D versus 2D, in the end both viewers are watching the same content. Contrary to only able to watch a movie in 3D or 2D, the experience is fixed to one type of viewer.

Having an exclusive experience makes a bigger impact on choice than a shared experience that is slightly altered. Just to add to this comment, I think Xbox Live made an impact on sales more than the actual games themselves.

"Yes but exclusive 1st party titles are the ones that mainly separate the one console from the other."

I see where you are trying to go, but that is a fallacy.

A console can separate itself in many other ways. Xbox 360 for instance has separated itself from the pack with Kinect, media entertainment apps and XBL as well as some very strong original and exclusive IPs.

Hence, the platform can differentiate itself in many ways. It is an entire platform. Heck, look at PC, it should have the most exclusives of any platform yet isn't necessarily selling as many games of any single title.

Point being, consoles *now* differentiate itself from PC by being instantaneous, controller based, simple and very living room centric.

@Gaming_Guru:

"Why would I go to a platform that has the same games as all the others but no exclusives?"

Because you like what else it is offering?

As you said yourself, incentives and that is the question. What is the incentive to draw others onto a specific platform.

For that we will all have to wait and see what MS offers up, then see it pan out for all three console makers in the next 1-2 years.

That was kind of the point, Xbox Live was considered better because it was designed to be more social across all video games as appose the PSN. Now that the PSN has built-in social features instead of relaying on the video games to create that social experience, Sony has it on all fronts.

The new PlayStation Eye looks like it can play Kinect like video games, the PlayStation Move Wii like video games, and now the controller in tandum with the eye is my guess to enhance sixaxis. Sony was always about the games, now they have a free social network to go along with the games. With PlaySation Plus is basically a video game version of Netflix.

Xbox Live you pay for stuff that is free on other platforms, so now Microsoft will have to create a really good incentive for the online price tag.

Its sad that they have almost no exclusives for the 360 except for Gears, Fable & Halo. Halo is not even that great of a game. M$ needs to step up the game and get more exclusives. Would you really pay 500.00 is that's the price for a console just for Halo sand gears. I wouldn't that would get boring fast.

Who cares about Kinect. Its a immature childish toy that was lame from the start. I could care less about Kinect 2.0... Kinect to me is useless

If xbox breaks, they go buy another one. If there's no games, they go buy another one and suddenly exclusives dont matter.

In america, xbox doesnt need games or require free online, hell, the machine breaks down no one cares except other gamers. Even now, xbox360 just keeps on selling and is more popular than a ps3. There's nothing sony could do to change that w their ps3. Sony did everything right for the last 3-5 years except for the few mis-haps, but it still doesnt sell.

M$ has proven you dont need a bunch of exclusives to have a console succeed. Being in 2nd place since 2006 and closing the gap between it and the Wii. not to mention the 360 is still fending off the PS3 almost 8 years later. However I expect MS will return to early form and will no doubt bring NEW and old exclusives to the Xbox720. The Kinect was simply introduced to extended the 360's lifespan and pull in several million casuals. That Objective was acheived and MS is set to focus the 720 on the core and ALL other aspects of gaming.

True sony dropped the price and it has helped it close the gap from 3rd place. However 360 will see another price drop as soon as 720 is launched. And at some point the 360 will spike in sales after the 720 launches because it will be dirt cheap. Sony will be more reluctant to price drops due to so much loss this gen.

"I doubt the people disagreeing with you are all PS3 fanboys, I bet many are xbox gamers too because that concept you bringing is suicide. "

that's the problem here, they think anyone who attacks MS or dislikes MS business model doesn't own a 360.

Why in the hell would I waste my time whining about something that doesn't affect me?

Some of us 360 owners would like more from MS or at least stay on par with the competetion! I didn't buy a 360 JUST to play gears and splinter cell! Stop pushing MP titles so you can sell more gold live!

I was expecting more and I want more! I don't care that sony's many exclusives don't make them money, I care that they are giving me more options! I want the same from the rest of the competetion, and so should any other gamer!

Hey I would like more new IP's too, if they are any good. But this is about what M$ see as good business. With the first Xbox M$ was doing all that studios and IP stuff. They even had they own Basket Ball, Football and Hockey sports series. They had to give that all up to get EA to support the Xbox. They had to jump through hoops to get GTA on 360 and this when on with many other 3rd party publishers and developers. The ONLY exclusives M$ had that was selling Xbox was Halo and to a lesser extent Splinter Cell and Team ninja's DOA/NG. They also had some real good exclusives from Bioware, early release of Morrowind, and some other exclusives like, PG racing, MOTO GP, the Rare stuff, the dog fight flying shooter, and more. Most of these games were very good, high production games. But most of those games where not made by M$ and the really great sellers were 3rd party. With 360 M$ did fewer 1st party and bought exclusives and worked with 3rd party for content. I think they would do the same. And I think it will work again.

Sorry Gotta disagree pappy. New Ip's are super refreshing with a start of a console and usually beyond its expired life span.

When new Ip's get released it has a chance to be the next Halo or Gears not just that but variety couldn't hurt either.

MS has to refresh their genre's come next gen. I can't stress enough how important it is to bring new franchises to the table when releasing a new console. That's how its always been with consoles. When the press, investors, journalists and gamers (us) watch E3 we immediately think what the next big franchise(s) or Ips will be.

That's why its super important that MS brings the games come E3. And yes MS needs to announce as many games as possible considering they'll be announcing a console soon.

MS proved they can invest in AAA games that are must buys. Why can't they prove it once again at E3? Prove people wrong by introducing the next big Ip.

We'll have to wait and see. Let's also hope they don't give us a bunch of exclusives for just the first couple of years and then stop with new ip's.

I said it before, it's time for Microsoft to put up or shut up. No longer can they rely on the mistakes of the competition. They also have to revitalize Xbox Live by either dropping the fee just to play online or make drastic changes to why they should be charging.

That is OK, like the movie industry, I only tend to watched a few blockbuster movies per year. As long as Microsoft continue to supply me with Halo, Gears, Forza, I will be a satisfied customer because 98% of my game purchase is third party anyway and with today's economy, I really can't afford multiple systems and games in the future anymore. It is the same story every year, last year I bought Halo 4, Forza Horizon, and the Witcher 2 for my x360 and nothing for my Phat PS3. It is not the quantity that matters, it is the quality.

Can't wait for the next xbox. I know Microsoft will support its gamers.

See I can understand your point of view because it reminds me of alot of my cousins who enjoy the xbox 360 more because most of their friends play on the 360 because of xbl. Its not because the 360 has better games but because MOST of their FRIENDS own a 360 & thats why they stick with the the 360.

I was the same way with the original xbox but the difference with me was I also loved the playstation & nintendo systems growing up but as I got older I loved most of the games coming out on sony platforms exclusively for their system cause u couldnt find these games on any other system. Heres a small list.

Largely excludes digital titles. 28 exclusives, maybe more. Variety out the wazoo, even if all you looked at were just those 28 exclusives. That's an average of 5 exclusives a year, by the way. Excluding games for Vita, DS and PS2(cuz I still buy and play those).

For this year: The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, Ni no Kuni(owned), Injustice, Army of Two, Bioshock, Neptunia V, Tales of Xillia, GRID 2, Tekken x Street Fighter on PS3. Killzone, Driveclub, and inFamous on PS4 at the LEAST, as well as Watch_Dogs. MLB 13, Soul Sacrifice, DOA 5 Plus, Ys, Valhalla Knights, Muramasa, Killzone, Disgaea, PSO2, Tales of Hearts/Innocence, Tearaway.

I can't see how you do it. There are just too many games coming out each year for me to only buy a few. Don't see how you can be satisfied with a handful of games.

Oh, and that "quality, not quantity" bullshit can stop. I get plenty of both on my Sony consoles; not my problem if you only get one.

Wow, you have games like Tokyo Jungle, Ar Tonelico, Hyperdimension Neptunia...I am so jealous, what am I going to do?? LOL, wouldn't it be easier if you would just take a picture of your games rather than writing a 10 page essay about it. The idea is so good and make too much sense that I am just going to do it to prove that it makes sense.

As for ThatXboxGuy (the artist formerly known as ThatKansasGuy), how is life treating you with your new identity? LOL

SDF dont waste your time. We go through this every month more than once. Most of those games he mentioned are niche and or not expected to do well at all. But to play the game

If I just went digital on 360 last year I could get over 5 exclusives. Alan wake, fez, minecraft, dungeon fighter, deadlight, hybrid,trials evo, kung fu strike, dust elysian tales, joy ride,mark of the ninja and thats not all of them!

Still got dance central, halo 4, forza H, and witcher 2 for main games

If this gen is anything to go by, MS will have several new 1Ps for the first few years of the next gen, then they'll slowly drop them in exchange for more Kinect (You know that they'll be pushing Kinect regardless). The only significant and reliable 1Ps that MS has are Halo, Gears, Forza, and Fable. Sorry, but that isn't enough to convince me to invest in the their next console for the next 7 years.

You can argue that maybe they won't do more of the same and that they'll focus on core gamers and 1Ps all the way through, but, going off their track record, I just can't trust them.

They are going to have to REALLY wow me at E3 in order to convince me to not jump ship, because the PS4 is looking very good right now.

That's the thing! MS can't have my trust anymore! They don't respect their consoles, studios, IPs and finally their fanbase! They launched the first xbox, released some good games and as long as they saw they didn't sell like they wanted they just pulled the plug, left everyone hanging(especially late adopters) and moved on with 360!That's preposterous! Sony has never abandoned a console! Same with the 360! Launched with some good ips and then "screw you guys, Wii sells like crazy so here's Kinect!" WTF?! Seriously?! They got Rare (one amazing studio) and destroyed it... hell, they don't even respect their exclusives! Where is Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Jade Empire, Kameo and many more now?! A console and gamers would greatly benefit from quality games from many genres!

All the PS exclusives may not be for everyone but they are quality titles from all genres!!!Platform, racing,fps, tps, action, adventure, rpgs, jrpgs, puzzle, u name it! A media app or feature don't mean anything if the games are not there! And with the PS consoles in every generation it's the new IPs that really steal the show not the returning ones! Uncharted, Infamous, Motorstorm, Resistance, Little Big Planet, Heavy Rain, Journey, Heavenly Sword... i could go on and on!!! I expect MS to bring some new ips but they won't change their strategy and their history has showed that they don't plan on changing the pattern... which is sad because they could really contribute to the industry like Nintendo did, and that's why for example 360 with all it's sales will never be half the console N64 or Gamecube ever was!